So, fans are up in arms over Mass Effect 3's controversial ending, and there is much misery to be found on the Internet this day. Do not despair though, friends, for your humble Jim Sterling has found the positive side of this entire debacle. The drama surrounding Mass Effect 3 ultimately means good things for videogames. Really? Yes, really!

The happiest man on the Internet explains exactly why. He also doesn't spoil ANYTHING in Mass Effect while he does it ... although he does talk about the end boss of Arkham Asylum, as if that should matter to anybody.

But God damn it, why did it have to be Mass Effect? Couldn't we have learned this lesson with a different game? Like... y'know, a game I wasn't emotionally invested in to a borderline ridiculous degree?

Yo, Jim, the reason why people are shitting their pants with, undivolged anger is because the ending failed to live up to what was promised. It's like Peter Molyneux was helping BioWare in making and marketing the game.

That ending was an absolute middle finger to the many fans of the Jimquisition over the years. Given the care I took to my persona as an audience member throughout the series, it was frustrating and degrading when it just ended with a John Lennon reference that had nothing to do with the comments I left across the series. Also why was I suddenly allowed to be a gay audience member? I wasn't during any previous videos. Everybody sign my petition to get the Escapist to force Jim to change the ending and possibly chop his member off. You can find it here http://www.Ihonestlyhavenothingbettertodo.com/flameflamewhinewhackoff

Eric the Orange:Jim sterling everyone, the only contributor that has actually gotten in trouble for attitude on the forums. Not that it's unexpected I guess.

relevance?

Only in that this is Jims show and that he has a bit of an abrasive personality. And that this is the first episode put up under his Forum commenting profile instead of his usual one for putting up videos.

Shotgun Guy:After investing six minutes into this episode I was let down by the ending, I demand you give us a new one!

This is an interesting way to look at the controversy, didn't imagine Jim as a 'glass half full' kind of guy.

You simply didn't look at it right. You don't understand Jim. Shut up, fanboy! If you don't like it, don't play it! It's Jim's show, so he can end it how he wants! You are bias! You are bias you are bias YOU ARE BIAS!

Invadergray:That ending was an absolute middle finger to the many fans of the Jimquisition over the years. Given the care I took to my persona as an audience member throughout the series, it was frustrating and degrading when it just ended with a John Lennon reference that had nothing to do with the comments I left across the series. Also why was I suddenly allowed to be a gay audience member? I wasn't during any previous videos. Everybody sign my petition to get the Escapist to force Jim to change the ending and possibly chop his member off. You can find it here http://www.Ihonestlyhavenothingbettertodo.com/flameflamewhinewhackoff

Funny and all, but the massive difference you overlooked is:

Jim, in that satirical and hypothetical world you speak of, never promised you a different ending to the one you got.

You know there's an "old school" thing you can do if you don't like a stories outcome. It's called "fan fiction".

I challenge any of the Mass Effect 3 whiners to write some and then have others scrutinise it.Better yet I challenge all the Mass Effect 3 whiners to agree on one ME3 fan fiction ending outcome. Let's just see how far they get with that :)

To be honest it'd be an improvement on their time usage and much more productive than making silly and ridiculous groups like the Retake ME thing.

You make a good point, as you often do in your snide, cynical comments on the video game world as a whole, and I agree with the vast majority of the points you've made. Yes, Mass Effect 3 and the controversy it has sparked within a mere week of its release is astounding, especially in such a young and progressively evolving medium. At the same time, the fans, as I see it, are not specifically 'cheesed off' so to speak, because of a lack of their own 'personal' ending. It is more a matter of the game writing off the mass effect style as a whole. While the Mass Effect style is CHOICE AND CONSEQUENCE, to be sure, the normal mass effect series has consequences beyond the immediate, and I feel that that is where many fans feel let down. The immediate consequence of the final choice, however cut and dry that it is, is inherently different from every other choice the player has made before. Add to this a complete lack of difference in the various endings, besides a slightly altered color palette and minor details in cinematics, and I believe that the Mass Effect fan base is suffering more from a lack of due closure than anything else. They (again, this as what I've gathered from piecing together some of the more legible comments...) feel that having invested over one hundred hours in this series, that they deserve more than the sudden and quick death of their character, and nothing but questions regarding every other race or character in the world.

"The Michelle Rodriguez of video games?" What? Jim is killed off every other episode for not being considered feminine enough by the marketing department?

I'll grant some of the Mass Effect ending response (demanding a "real" ending, specifically) are kind of over-the-top, but if some of the response might be described as infantile, I wouldn't describe the emotions generating such responses as such. The investment of time and passion by those who play a trilogy of games is a real one, and if- as some articles have suggested- the people responsible knew from the outset that the ending would enrage some of those who made that investment, I think that anger is justified. If "art games" have a responsibility to entertain the player and not just lead them by the nose towards some moral or philosophical point the author wished to make, so all the more do more "conventional" games- especially a series of such games- have a responsibility to lead their consumers to an ending that will reward and satisfy them, not to thumb their nose at those consumers because someone got tired of writing conventional space opera.

Thanks Jim,now I can look at this in way that isn't a deus ex machina(no pun intended) wound to my commitment to Mass Effect(it's still there).About seeing the universe as OUR universe,that's actually normal,many people say my Shepard.Simply because the game is supposed to be about making choices over and over again,and then marketing says that these choices matter,and we expect that to be true,because we've seen it in smaller quantities.After I saw the ending for myself I was literally enraged,even if I am calm person,100+ of my life,getting every quest,every NPC,every asset,every mineral,all to be bogged down to a child hologram and 3 trivial choices,which just color the galaxy in different colors is just...unsatisfying to say the least.Shouting out with such a massive force is truly an achievement for the industry,but I don't see that as something good,it doesn't help our image as "gamers" in the very least.Perhaps something good might come out of it,but I still discourage this movement.Then again I'm an apathetic bastard and this is the internet after all...

On one last note: When I saw the title screen I thought: "That it's finally over?" Because I'm happy that the trilogy has ended and the EA mass marketing machine finally quiets down(mostly).

EDIT: I also admit that it has been quite fascinating watching how this movement has progressed,the scale,the impact is immense.But I still feel smart that I didn't part take in it.

While I agree with the point you made, that this kind of reaction is good because it proves how involving the game was, I don't think ALL the fans are wrong. I mean, sure some are childish brats, but that's a given, in ANY situation.

In the end, the mature and reasonable members of the fanbase are aware that nothing they can say or do will outwardly force Bioware to change the ending. The reason this seems so outrageous isn't merely fan reaction, the end of the game really is THAT BAD. It itself is an extreme reaction to the rest of the series.

But this is still just expression. This is still just people expressing their opinions on the game and making suggestions for improvements. The fact that their so loud isn't because any one member of them is loud, but because there are so many people who hate the ending and love the series, that they're willing and capable of bringing together a petition for which to express their dissatisfaction, in order to make absolutely sure that Bioware is aware of it.

We now live in a world where it's possible for an artist to make changes to an established work after it's release, should they see fit. I see no reason such a technique shouldn't be considered, especially when Bioware has made it so clear how important feedback is to their design philosophy.

We have more than enough reason to be disappointed, and Bioware has more then enough reason to take those complaints under consideration.

I think a lot of people fall into the trap of simply dismissing ANY type of fan outcry, because they're so used to fans being whiny and insatiable, that they don't bother to consider that they might have a point